Dipton is a small town in the

Southland Southland may refer to: Places Canada * Dunbar–Southlands, Vancouver, British Columbia New Zealand * Southland Region, a region of New Zealand * Southland County, a former New Zealand county * Southland District, part of the wider Southland Re ...

region of

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. It is located 20 kilometres south of Lumsden and 60 kilometres north of

Invercargill Invercargill ( , mi, Waihōpai is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region. The city lies in the heart of the wide expanse of t ...

. From 20 October 1875 until its closure on 13 December 1982, Dipton was situated on the

Kingston Branch The Kingston Branch was a major railway line in Southland, New Zealand. It formed part of New Zealand's national rail network for over a century: construction began in 1864, Kingston was reached in 1878, and it closed in 1979. For much o ...

railway. Dipton is the hometown of former

New Zealand National Party The New Zealand National Party ( mi, Rōpū Nāhinara o Aotearoa), shortened to National () or the Nats, is a centre-right political party in New Zealand. It is one of two major parties that dominate contemporary New Zealand politics, alongside ...

leader and former

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Bill English Sir Simon William English (born 30 December 1961) is a New Zealand former National Party politician who served as the 39th prime minister of New Zealand from 2016 to 2017 and as the 17th deputy prime minister of New Zealand and minister of f ...

, who was born in nearby Lumsden. It is also the birthplace of

Todd Barclay Todd Keith Barclay (born 8 June 1990) is a former New Zealand politician of the National Party. He was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Clutha-Southland at the 2014 general election. In 2017, Barclay resigned from parliament in disgrace a ...

, who succeeded English as the electorate MP for

Clutha-Southland Clutha-Southland was a parliamentary constituency returning one member to the New Zealand House of Representatives. The last MP for Clutha Southland was Hamish Walker of the National Party. He held the seat for one term, being elected at the ...

. Dipton is also close to the White Hill Wind Farm, completed in 2007 by New Zealand

state-owned enterprise A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a Government, government entity which is established or nationalised by the ''national government'' or ''provincial government'' by an executive order or an act of legislation in order to earn Profit (econom ...

Meridian Energy Meridian Energy Limited is a New Zealand electricity generator and retailer. The company generates the largest proportion of New Zealand's electricity, generating 35 percent of the country's electricity in the year ending December 2014, and is ...

Demographics

Dipton is part of the statistical area of Oreti River, which surrounds but does not include Winton, and covers . It had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km². Oreti River had a population of 2,100 at the

2018 New Zealand census Eighteen or 18 may refer to: * 18 (number), the natural number following 17 and preceding 19 * one of the years 18 BC, AD 18, 1918, 2018 Film, television and entertainment * ''18'' (film), a 1993 Taiwanese experimental film based on the sho ...

, a decrease of 69 people (−3.2%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 174 people (9.0%) since the

2006 census 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

. There were 774 households. There were 1,098 males and 1,002 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.1 males per female. The median age was 38.3 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 480 people (22.9%) aged under 15 years, 354 (16.9%) aged 15 to 29, 981 (46.7%) aged 30 to 64, and 285 (13.6%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 89.6% European/Pākehā, 7.9% Māori, 0.6% Pacific peoples, 7.3% Asian, and 1.7% other ethnicities (totals add to more than 100% since people could identify with multiple ethnicities). The proportion of people born overseas was 15.0%, compared with 27.1% nationally. Although some people objected to giving their religion, 46.3% had no religion, 45.7% were Christian, 0.6% were Hindu, 0.1% were Buddhist and 1.3% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 234 (14.4%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 354 (21.9%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $40,600, compared with $31,800 nationally. 312 people (19.3%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 942 (58.1%) people were employed full-time, 273 (16.9%) were part-time, and 21 (1.3%) were unemployed.

Education

Dipton School is a state full primary school for years 1 to 8 with a roll of as of The school was established in 1877.

References

{{Authority control Populated places in Southland, New Zealand